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Tour vs Randonneur ?

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Tour vs Randonneur ?

Old 02-13-21, 10:27 AM
  #1  
Tomm Willians
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Tour vs Randonneur ?

I have a SOMA Pescadero that I purchased so my wife and I can give a try at some touring this year. In addition to that goal, I’ve also done a century on this bike and have a goal of a double (hopefully before the weather gets too warm).
As it appears that my immediate goals seem a bit more towards a Randonneur event than touring, I’m wondering if there might be some gains to be made in tire selection? The bike currently wears 700x35c Rene Herse Bon Jon Pass tires.
I like the way the bike rides now but looking at 16-18 hours in the saddle on a double, if there’s something a bit quicker I’d like to consider it.
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Old 02-13-21, 10:59 AM
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Happy Feet
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Good luck! With tires everyone has their opinions...

People who like Rene Herse will say they are the best. I've always wondered about puncture protection because of their thin suppleness.

I am now using Continental GP 5000's 700x28 which is a popular faster tire that gets good rolling resistance reviews. Touring I may default back to Gatorskins 700x32 just because I dislike flatting so much and there are a lot of radial tire wire shards along the routes I usually take. They don't seem to pick it up as much as a tire with tread.
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Old 02-13-21, 11:00 AM
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You have the perfect tires for your purposes.
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Old 02-13-21, 12:52 PM
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I have never ridden Compass or Rene Herse tires, have no opinion, but they have a strong following. If you are going to ride some 300k brevets, then some of the time you will be riding after sunset, so a tire that is unlikely to get a pinch flat if you hit something you did not notice may be an advantage. For that reason, maybe a 35mm tire is a good idea.

I have ridden Vittoria Randonneur Pro 32mm tires for the 200k brevets I have ridden. I have not ridden any longer. I could have used 28 or 25mm tires, but for out on the country roads, sometimes road conditions are not ideal. My road bike has 28m tires, could have ridden that bike if I wanted to.

But asking cyclists what the best tire choice is, if you ask 100 people you will get at least 150 opinions. It is like asking a chain lube question.

If any of that may be on gravel, you might want to look at this:
https://www.bikeforums.net/long-dist...00k-400ks.html

I assume you are not looking at tubeless. If you are, check this out:
https://www.bikeforums.net/long-dist...oad-tires.html
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Old 02-13-21, 02:00 PM
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Re thinking that narrower is faster preconceptions, read this
https://www.renehersecycles.com/12-m...0less%20energy.

A wider supple tire will also make your body a lot less tired and bounced and jiggled over mucho hours on the bike
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Old 02-14-21, 12:27 AM
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I also agree that you already have the right tires for randonneuring. If you want to tweak things a little, you could consider running the extra light version up front and the endurance version in the back wheel for randonneuring.

My current set up is a René Herse with extralight casing up front and Schwalbe Marathon Racer in the back. I tried a René Herse extralight casing tire in the back and I was not happy with the tire punctures I was getting. The Schwalbe Marathon Racers are so much better in that respect while still being fairly fast rolling.

For credit card touring, Marathon Racers both front and rear will do the trick for me which, by the way, is the same tire setup I used for PBP 2015. I just preferred not to be dealing with flats in a once-in-a-lifetime event such as that one. Those tires worked beautifully for me.
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Old 02-15-21, 11:01 AM
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If Only:

If only I could regain the conditioning I once had, and...
If only I had those tires, and...
If only the tread wasn't going bald...
Then I'd be happy to ride them on a 300 or 400 km brevet.
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Old 02-18-21, 12:30 AM
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Here's a good place to research information on tires. Rolling resistance, suppleness, flat resistance, etc..

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/
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Old 02-18-21, 10:48 AM
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I look at tires from the attributes, and prioritize them. Start with wheel size (700, 650, 26", etc), then puncture resistance (yes, taht's #2 for me!), the width of tire (32mm or 35mm), how hard it is to get on/off the rim, then tread (or no tread).

Tire width can be 32 or 35, as different brands have different sidewall stiffness. I'll also use 28mm, but on a road bike and not on a tour bike.
Brands I've used include the usual suspects, current is Vittorra (smaller sizes can be tough to get on/off a rim), I have used Continental (but they degrade quickly), Serfas (28mm or 32mm, no 35mm available, and better for a road bike), and I'm also trying some'house-brand' from the old Performance Bike (heavy, but cheap and they seem to roll nicely).
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Old 02-19-21, 08:22 AM
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The wider the tire, the more resistance. As a bicycle store owner for over 12 years and a guy who raced all three years as a junior, and then for five as a Cat. 2 road racer, I would strongly recommend a narrower tire, A 38mm tire is like riding with a governor on your bike. Also the chances of getting a pinch flat on a narrow tire assuming they are properly inflated, is minimal. I have been riding on 23mm tires since 1990, and have yet to pinch a tube. I have had some 10k plus years FYI.
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Old 02-19-21, 09:59 AM
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TEST RIDE: I highly recommend that if you have never ridden/ not for a while, try riding 700 x 23 or 25 tires for just one mile. Go back to your 38's, I believe you will feel an immediate difference, and come to the obvious conclusion... why kill myself with the boat anchor 38 tires,they are like riding with sand filled tires.
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Old 02-19-21, 12:22 PM
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Originally Posted by headwind15
The wider the tire, the more resistance. As a bicycle store owner for over 12 years and a guy who raced all three years as a junior, and then for five as a Cat. 2 road racer, I would strongly recommend a narrower tire, A 38mm tire is like riding with a governor on your bike. Also the chances of getting a pinch flat on a narrow tire assuming they are properly inflated, is minimal. I have been riding on 23mm tires since 1990, and have yet to pinch a tube. I have had some 10k plus years FYI.
Originally Posted by headwind15
TEST RIDE: I highly recommend that if you have never ridden/ not for a while, try riding 700 x 23 or 25 tires for just one mile. Go back to your 38's, I believe you will feel an immediate difference, and come to the obvious conclusion... why kill myself with the boat anchor 38 tires,they are like riding with sand filled tires.
I am not going to argue with you, but I will comment that your experience is not universal for bike touring where you are hauling your camping gear on the bike and occasionally riding on gravel. I have never raced, but touring is not racing.

All of my touring has been on tires that are 37mm or wider. I ride brevets on 32mm. I consider the 28mm wide tires on my road bike to be narrow tires, have ridden 25 but did not like the harsh ride on some of the bad pavement.
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Old 02-19-21, 12:58 PM
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Yeah.. I was gonna say go ride a loaded bike day after day on chipseal roads with 23mm tires and get back to us.

There was a stretch of hwy between the Icefield summit and Jasper that had intentional frost cracks every 20 feet or so that rattled my eyeballs loose with 1.75 × 26" tires.

Last edited by Happy Feet; 02-19-21 at 01:04 PM.
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